Foster + Partners has revealed plans for the new PGA TOUR headquarters near Jacksonville, Florida today.
The 187,000-square-foot, neo-Modernist structure is slated for an undeveloped corner of the PGA TOUR’s Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida’s property. The office building will consolidate 750 employees who are now scattered throughout the Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine area when it’s complete in 2020. The PGA TOUR, which hosts golf tournaments all over the world, could accomodate several hundred more workers at the new headquarters if necessary.
“As we strive to reach an increasingly diverse, more global fanbase and position the PGA TOUR for future success, we must be equipped to meet the ever-changing landscape in international business, media and technology,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan, in a press release. “Moving forward with this beautiful new global home in Ponte Vedra Beach will allow for more creative, efficient collaboration among our staff and partners, and will set us on the right path toward achieving our goals as an organization.”
It being Florida, Foster + Partners’ building is designed to let in maximum sunlight. A central atrium surrounds the building’s two parallel, three-story bays, which are glazed from floor to ceiling. Those bays will be connected by 20-foot-wide bridges, which, the London firm hopes, will encourage employee mingling and co-working without obstructing traffic in the core. Flexible workspaces are also located on the terraces around the atrium and on the periphery of the upper floors.
According to the PGA TOUR, a freshwater lake surrounding the structure will, “[echo] the iconic ‘Island Green’ 17th hole from THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.” The roof, meanwhile, will sport five skylights and hosts photovoltaic panels that will supply the structure with energy (the architects are going for a LEED Gold rating). The mercury rarely dips below freezing in Ponte Vedra Beach, so they won’t have to worry about falling icicles, either.
